UN asks Sudan to revise “exaggerated” elections budget

July 26, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The United Nations (UN) rejected a budget presented by Sudan to fund the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for April 2011.

The poll in Sudan will be the first in more than 20 years under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended over two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy told a closed session of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on July 17 that Sudan asked for over $1 billion for the elections, according to a UN official who attended the meeting.

However, the UN pushed back the budget telling Sudan the figures are “exaggerated” and asked them to revise it.

The UN gave an example of elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) costing $500 million despite the extremely difficulty of the terrain in the country.

The world body offered to assist Sudan through providing technical expertise in preparing a revised budget.

Sudan wants the UN to help mobilize donors to fund the 2010 elections.

The government sponsored Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website this week quoted a senior official in the elections commission as saying that the body is experiencing a severe fund shortfall.

Mukhtar Al-Asam head of the committee for the Commission and the Electoral Register at the board blamed the donors for the financial difficulties.

“The government is no having to cover the deficiency resulting from the donors not fulfilling their commitments towards the elections,” Al-Asalm told SMC website.

He said the urgent need for funding relates to the stage of election awareness and train voters as well as political party figures saying that “it needs to start now” which according to him requires hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Elections where people do not register or participate are worthless,” he added.

SMC noted that UN provided $68 million to the elections so far while the United States gave $25 million.

A political analyst speaking to Sudan Tribune from Khartoum expressed fear that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is seeking to funnel the international donors fund for its own elections campaign.

(ST)